Avoid air pollution when pregnant

If you have heavy particulate matter exposure during pregnancy, your baby could be born with 13.2% shorter telomeres. This translates into a shorter life expectancy.

According to the study of 641 newborns, those whose mothers were exposed to higher levels of certain types of air pollution (so-called "particulate matter" from things like car emissions and burning of residential heating fuels), were born with shorter telomeres—8.8% shorter in their cord blood cells and 13.2% shorter in their placenta cells—than those whose mothers were exposed to less pollution. The effect was strongest when the moms were exposed during the second trimester.